Promoting the Nursing Profession One Learner at a Time

Nursing is the nation’s largest healthcare profession, with more than 4.8 million registered nurses in the United States. Despite this robust workforce, however, the Health Resources and Services Administration projects a shortage of more than 78,000 full-time equivalent RNs in 2025.

“The nursing shortage is critical across the U.S.,” says Linda Gardner, DNP, MEd, RN, CNOR. “We need to be able to provide the educational resources and pipeline development to address the issue.”

Gardner is senior director of Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Nursing Career Exploration (CNCE), which launched in August 2024. The center aims to be a central resource for nursing career exploration and navigation at Cleveland Clinic by targeting a wide range of learners from kindergarteners to professional nurses.

“We wanted to establish one central location where people can go to find out about nursing – what a nurse does, how to become a nurse, how nurses can expand their careers with advanced degrees or by becoming healthcare leaders," says Gardner.

Sparking early interest

The Center for Nursing Career Exploration, a department in the Office of Nursing Education and Professional Development, focuses on four areas: pre-pipeline (K-8 students), pipeline (9^th – 12^th, plus adult learners), nursing career navigation and nursing career opportunities.

Programs geared to pre-pipeline and pipeline development include:

• Launchpad to Nursing Bootcamp – This community outreach program is offered to middle school and high school students at Cleveland Clinic’s Main Campus and several regional hospitals. “The boot camp includes immersive experiences in which students play the role of a nurse at five different stations,” says Theresa Russo, program manager at the Center for Nursing Career Exploration. The stations allow learners to participate in a patient assessment, mock code, diagnostic imaging and more. At the end of the day, attendees engage in an escape room activity – Escape Your Shift – where they decipher clues and apply what they’ve learned throughout the day.
• Nursing Shadow Program – The shadowing experience is designed for high school students aged 15 and older, college students and adult learners. Participants observe Cleveland Clinic nurses as they interact with patients at the bedside and coordinate care with other members of the healthcare team. “The shadow program gives people an idea of what it means to be a nurse on a medical-surgical unit, in the emergency room or in other areas of a hospital,” says Gardner. “It provides students with an inside look at the profession.”
• High School PCNA Internship Program – Students participate in the Patient Care Nurse Assistant (PCNA) Internship Program through a career technical program. CNCE partners with local high schools to offer students an opportunity to provide hands-on patient care in a hospital environment.

In addition, the Center for Nursing Career Exploration oversees high school projects and the Howley ASPIRE Nurse Scholars Program and Howley ASPIRE Pathways Program.

“We hope that early exposure to nursing will engage young people and spark their interest,” says Russo. “We know we may not see a return on investment for six, eight or 10 years. But if they come to a bootcamp in middle school, they might come back for a nurse shadowing experience. Then hopefully we will see them again as an undergraduate nursing student and finally as a Cleveland Clinic nurse. That’s the trajectory of the program.”

Finding the right fit

During its first year, the Center for Nursing Career Exploration has focused primarily on pre-pipeline and pipeline development, but it’s now beginning to establish nursing career navigation and opportunities. Through the navigation component, the CNCE will guide people who are interested in attending nursing school but are unsure where to begin. The center also includes specialty programs like a nurse associate externship.

In addition, the center will help nurses explore academic and professional development opportunities and career advancement. “We are partnering with the Global Leadership & Learning Institute to create more powerful, insightful nursing leadership courses,” says Gardner. “We need to show people how much you can do with a nursing degree. Nurses are more than compassionate; we are smart, critical thinkers. We are innovators who change lives every day. Our center can find the right fit for everyone from younger students to adult learners searching for a second career.”